39:18 who listen to the Word, then follow the best thereof. These are the ones whom Allāh has guided, and these are themselves possessed of understanding.

39:18 The generic qawl (lit. word) is used to denote the divine message contained in the Qur’ān. Although the Qur’ān does not provide ambiguous message (18:1; 39:28), it does not preclude its readers from deriving multiple meanings in time and space, including some that may not be proper or justified. Without violating its internal coherence and consistency, the Qur’ān does allow for limited polysemy, and in doing so it points out some of the meanings are better than the others (cf. 7:145). Thus, any attempt to collapse the Qur’ān in human interpretation and then fix such interpretation as final is dangerous. Furthermore, over a time and with advancement of human knowledge it is possible that past or present tafsīr of the Qur’ān may create disjunction, resulting into a dilemma between what is labeled ‘Islamic’ versus what is ‘Qur’ānic’. True believers are those who follow the best thereof, i.e. best of the meanings, and best of all schools of thoughts.